1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to management of media asset downloading, and more particularly, to media asset downloading in a client-server environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, music has been purchased at music stores or music departments of larger stores. A consumer will visit the music store or department and manually browse for albums or compact discs (CDs) of interest. Often, the music in the music store or department is categorized by genre, and then indexed by artist. For example, genre can include rock, country, pop, soul, jazz, etc. After the consumer selects an album or CD of interest, the consumer proceeds to a check-out register to pay for the album or CD being purchased.
In recent years music delivery or distribution over the Internet has become popular. Due to the advances in efficient file formats, such as MP3 and MPEG4, the size of media files have become small enough to make their download via the Internet practical. Also, technological advances have led to higher-speed Internet connections and lower cost of memory. The combination of these advances make downloading media files, such as for music and videos, manageable and not too time consuming. Normally, client-side programs assist a user with interaction via the Internet with a server computer that stores available media files. In this way, a user of a client-side program is able to browse, preview, purchase and/or download available media files over the Internet. These operations can be referred to as media operations.
Given that media operations are bandwidth-intensive, the user can experience delays if earlier media operations are slow to complete. For example, the download of a media file to a client can take at least several minutes, and during this period, the user may want to perform another media action (e.g., browse). However, the subsequent media operation must await the completion of the download operation. Delays of this sort are bothersome to users and tend to reduce user satisfaction.
Thus, there is a need for media operations such as downloading to be processed in a manner that enhances user satisfaction.